20.6.17

Evans went to club before arrest, I rushed to Magodo on Okada – Abba Kyari, Police IRT leader

Abba Kyari, an assistant commissioner of police and head of the
Intelligence Response Team, has revealed how operatives trailed and
placed billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudi Onuamadike aka Evans, under
surveillance.
Kyari also disclosed that he rode on a commercial motorcycle,
popularly known as okada, to enable him move faster to Evans’ Magodo GRA
Phase II residence.

The top cop said knowing the traffic situation in Lagos could delay
him, he had to ditch vehicular movement for another alternative.
His words: “At about 1.30am (on Saturday), Evans and some of his gang
members went out to a club around Ikeja and returned at 5.10am. So, we
were very sure that would be our day.
“So, I decided to go and cleanup myself and have a little rest before I returned to Magodo,” he told The Point.

“I was still resting when my guys called that the target was set;
that it appeared he wanted to go out. So, I had to take Okada from where
I was, to meet up.”
Kyari added that policemen must sometimes do “unconventional things” to get at their targets.

“You won’t believe this, but it’s the truth. Do you know that when my
surveillance team alerted me of the suspect’s presence at his Magodo
mansion, I had no other option than to take Okada from where I was at
Ikeja GRA to Magodo?

“I was approaching former tollgate, when I got another call that he
might drive out any moment. So, I instructed my guys to give him warning
shots; that was to announce our presence, and that kept him indoors
until I got there and directed the affairs.”
Kyari recalled that he and his team had been on Evans’ trail for
close to 10 years before they finally succeeded in arresting him on June
10.
“We have been following him, through intelligence gathering and
surveillance, but we have always lost him. He is a very intelligent
criminal with a very sound IQ, I must tell you.”
“When we tracked him to Lagos, I was in Abuja. The moment I was sure
he was in Lagos, we moved down to Lagos on Monday of that week.
“We came by road and slept at a police station close to Evans’ residence and started our surveillance on him.”